Accidents Happen for a Reason
by crore
Summary: After years of pining, one kiss leads to many other things.
1. Chapter 1

He leaned in and she'd let him. They're lips collided hesitantly with each other, carefully and delicately, and his hands left the edge of the roof to cup her face gently. He teasingly traced the sides of her mask gingerly, as if one touch could shatter everything.

Then he got greedy, his teeth gently nipping her bottom lip, and she gasped, her mouth curling into a smile and she dived back into the pool of bliss. He shifted closer, his hands coming from her cool cheeks down to her back, hugging her closer. They could feel their warm breaths gently caressing their lips when they parted and their eyes remained closed as if they were scared to see what would be on the other side. His lips nudged hers once again, playfully, and she closed the gap between them.

It was more passionate and hungry, and they both drank each other's presence in. He felt the overwhelming emotion of joy and couldn't help but to grin. He felt her smile against his as well, and he wished, that this was the way things where, because he was finally happy.

She wasn't thinking when she traced his lip with her tongue, taunting him into another round of the dangerous game they were playing. He willingly obliged and pushed his body closer to hers, until they could feel the heat radiating from them both. Her hands slid up to his hair, gently tugging the blonde locks. Their noses barely touched when they turned their heads in unison, sucking in the cool, cloudless night.

In the back of his mind, there was a small voice screaming for him to stop. The fear of loosing her consumed his thoughts, and he pushed back into Ladybug, crashing his lips into hers sucking her bottom lip. Her hands trailed down from the back of his neck to his arms, clutching them and pulling him closer.

Something in her mind suddenly clicked and her fingers tightened over his forearms, forcefully removing them from his embrace. She scurried away from Chat Noir, as if being close to him was infecting her. His soft green eyes snapped open with surprise, and quickly replaced his joy with hurt. It stabbed him in the heart, and the feeling broke into his bloodstream, uninvited and a wave of agonizing pain flooded his insides.

"I-I," Ladybug breathed shakily, "we can't do this."

"Why?" Adrien croaked, desperation gently dripped into his mind, and the last piece of remaining hope he clung onto slipped away as he willingly welcomed desperation. Of course this wouldn't work out. Why would it?

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed, _why can't they?_ "I don't know." She whispered. "What if something happens? What if this changes everything?"

"My lady, I am afraid everything is about to change." Adrien murmured. He shakily stood up; he could barely hold the tears that threatened to overfill his eyes. Adrien walked over to where Ladybug was sitting and offered a hand.

Marinette gripped Chat Noirs gloved hand gingerly; "I don't want them to Chat." She pulled herself up, not letting go of Chat's hand when she did.

"What if-" Adrien drew in an uneven breath, "What if this is good?" He didn't want to look at Ladybug. If he did, he wasn't sure if he could hold it together.

"What if it isn't Chat?" Marinette replied, a single tear slid down her cheek without her permission. "What if-"

"My lady-"

"Chat." Marinette was silently crying now, she refused to let her voice waver, "I can't loose you."

"I won't loose you." The firmness in Chats voiced forced Marinette's eyes to look up to him.

The stabbing ache in Adrien's heart increased at the thought of loosing Ladybug. Not because he loved her, but because she was his friend. Ladybug and Chat Noir was his escape. Ladybug was his best friend. When he is Chat Noir, with Ladybug he was truly himself.

"Chat…"

Adrien shook his head, "I will not loose you Ladybug." His sternness surprised himself. "There is nothing you can do to make me loose you."

"I'm not going to loose you either Chat." Marinette said, her heart breaking as she watched Chat Noir crumble in front of her.

Adrien watched as Ladybug too large strides to him, and lunged towards him, her arms bringing him tightly towards her. His chin gently brushed the top of her head, and he returned her embrace, swallowing her presence. Tears slid freely down his cheeks and his chest shuddered and he gulped the air around them.

Marinette didn't know how long they stood there, on an abandoned rooftop when everyone was asleep. Her cheek pressed against Chat's chest she felt safe.

"Chat?" She whispered to his chest. Chat Noir hummed in response, "I have to go."

Adrien made a small whine, his heart feeling as heavy as it was at beginning. "Of course my lady." He murmured into Ladybug's hair, "Of course."

Marinette unwillingly slid out of Chat's arms, and started to back away from the cat. "Chat Noir?"

Adrien's downcast eyes met Ladybug's bloodshot sapphire eyes, "Yes my lady?"

"You will never loose me, you silly cat."

Adrien watched as Ladybug swung away, her last sentence still lingering in the air, lifting his mouth into a small sad smile. He turned and left, and it was as if the whole exchange had never happened.

* * *

Marinette arrived back home and she dragged her exhausted body to the shower with thoughts racing through her mind. She changed from Ladybug to Marinette whilst she was walking. Tikki promptly left, understanding that she needed to be alone with her thoughts.

She sighed as warm water drizzled down onto her. Her tired muscles unlocking as she stood under the showerhead. Her head fell back with exhaustion, her whole body slouching. How she kept this up, she had no idea.

' _Would it really be that bad?'_

What happened was inevitable.

Even when they first started, the only thing that kept Marinette from giving Chat a chance was the possibility of Adrien. Chat Noir was always there for her, and he listened to her. She could tell him the things she wouldn't be able to tell Alya. She could remember crying on his shoulder as he patted her back comfortingly. She could remember how they would lie together under the stars after patrol and laugh about the stupid things that they've done.

It's been four years since they've started everything. They've been together since the beginning. They've grown too strong and united and shit, Marinette was scared. She couldn't throw away their friendship to risk _something._

They both grew older together; she was there when his voice was cracking. He was there when she was a good half a head taller, until he suddenly grew a good foot taller a year later. Marinette smiled at all the jokes Chat Noir made about it, and how she would gently slap him on the arm after.

"My my my, my lady." Chat Noir purred behind her. The damn cat was the only one capable of sneaking up on her.

"Yes Chat?" She pushed down the urge to shiver as she felt his presence behind her. It had been a week since she last saw him and she'd missed him.

"Has my Bugaboo shrunk?"

Marinette frowned, ' _shrunk? Bugaboo? Hell no.'_ She turned ready to talk back at him, but her eyes widened as she realized that all she saw was a leather-clad chest. She heard Chat Noir snicker softly as her eyes slowly moved up to meet his mischievous eyes.

"What the fuck."

"Now now my lady, there's no need for that kind of language." Chat Noir buzzed with delight at her reaction. For the first couple of years after they've met, Ladybug had been growing taller than him and it annoyed him to no end when Ladybug looked down on him. Now it was his turn.

"How…?"

"I am a man now Ladybug."

She had to stop herself from laughing when she heard him say man. "You think this changes anything?" She scoffed, poking his stomach with her finger. ' _Jeez that's hard.'_

"No of course not Ladybug." Chat smoothly replied, hands on hips. He paused, "Do you need a lift to see past the building over there?"

Marinette gaped, "No!" She whispered to herself. "You take that back you damn alley cat." She wacked his arm playfully.

"I'm sorry my lady, I can't hear you from up here." Chat's grin looked like it would split his face down in two as he cupped a hand around his ear for effect.

Marinette could feel her lips arching into a smile, turning she sighed dramatically, "It's too bad really…" She trailed off, ' _Take that back',_ "I always liked the shorter men."

She heard Chat stutter, ' _yes, victory is mine.'_

Then he purred, "And I've always liked shorter women, so I guess I'll just have to make you change your mind…"

She stiffened when she felt the presence behind her, ' _too close.'_

"Y-You can try Chat."

She felt his breath against her ear, "I intend to, my lady."

Red blossomed across her cheeks, "You,I-I-," She took a deep breath, "I don't think-" Suddenly the breath was knocked out of her and suddenly her feet could no longer feel the ground and all she could feel were the hands that firmly grasped her waist. Her hands automatically came to hold onto his arms, gripping them tightly. "What the fu-"

"Can you see past the building now my lady?" He asked cheekily.

"Fuck you."

"Yes please."

"Shut up and put me down."

"Maybe later."

"Chat Noir, put me down or so help me-"

Marinette couldn't help but to softly smile.

' _I can't ruin what Chat Noir and I have.'_

* * *

"Fuck Plagg." Adrien said.

Once he hit the ground, Plagg slid out of his ring and glided to the couch. Adrien grasped his blond locks in frustration and leaned against the wall of his room and slid down. His knees coming up to his face, he curled up, his breaths uneven and his chest shuddered in attempt to hide his sobs.

"Shit, why do I have to ruin everything?" His hands curled into fists and he brought them down with frustration.

"Adrien-"

"Plagg, what can I do, I've just lost everything." He choked.

Plagg huffed with impatience, "Stop being so dramatic," He flew to hover over Adriens shoulder, "Ladybug isn't going to leave."

"You don't understand Plagg!" Adrien curled himself into a tighter ball, "I've ruined everything!"

"Adrien-"

"No!" Adrien shouted, "It will never be the same again," he laid his head against his knees and hiding his face from the world, "and it's my fault."

"None of this is your fault!" Plagg snapped, "Stop blaming yourself and get yourself together!"

"Plagg, you don't understand-"

"Oh for gods sake, both you and Ladybug made this happen. It isn't all your fault."

Adrien mumbled, "Ladybug didn't mean for this to happen."

"I guess she kissed Chat Noir accidently then?" Sour sarcasm filled Plagg's words, "Get to bed Adrien." His voice softened, "Don't beat yourself up."

Adrien lifted his head up from his knees, his eyes lost their usual spark in them, dull, emotionless. His mouth felt like it was pulled down permanently, his heart felt heavy in his chest. So this is what you felt when you feel like the world has let you down.

"No." He said.

With his father constantly restricting him, scrutinizing him and shoving him piles of tasks to do, the only thing holding him together was Ladybug. His teachers only saw what he wanted them to see. He had to choke down his negative feelings and focus on his studies; he needed to show his father that he was good enough.

Good enough.

He wanted to see the pride that he saw four years ago, a couple days before his mother had passed.

He remembered how it felt vividly. It felt like the ground was ripped from under his feet, and he was falling, falling, falling. He felt tired. Tired of dealing with what the world had to offer to him. Tired of constantly pretending that he was happy, when inside all he saw was darkness, the never-ending tunnel of sadness.

His father turned cold against him, neglecting him once she had passed. He made sure that the responsibilities he was supposed to give were to Nathalie, whom he paid. He left a twelve year old to drown in his sorrows as he lost both his mother and father.

Sometimes Adrien felt like screaming.

Sometimes he wanted to rip his heart out of his chest.

Sometimes he just didn't want to feel anymore.

But sometimes he would laugh. He would feel the sharp sting of wind against his face. He would grin when he talked to Ladybug. He would laugh until his stomach hurt and tears, tears, tears that were not there because of self doubt, but because he was happy. He would fight till his muscles where sore but would find relief when he fist bumped Ladybug. He would feel sadness when he watched Ladybug twist past the buildings and would only turn until he couldn't see her again.`

But most importantly, he felt love.

That's what Adrien longed. With his entire god damn heart.

 _I am so fucked._

"Plagg, transform me."


	2. Chapter 2

Last night's situation had left Marinette staying up to angrily toss and turn in her bed.

"Get to sleep. Get to sleep." She whispered to herself in the dark. Her eyes were tightly shut as doing that would hide her from her anxious thoughts.

She couldn't help but to delve deeper into the ideas that kept lurking at the back of her mind ever since she left Chat Noir on the roof. ' _What if he doesn't like me anymore?_ _Does he hate me? Couldn't I have just- Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP!'_

Her thoughts mercilessly taunted her mind, going round and round in a circle. She laid on her bed, looking at her ceiling, her eyes tracing the cuts and imperfections carved into it. Her thoughts slowly turned into an unpleasant buzz as she stared dully at the wall. They were quieter but the whispers were still here, she could hardly hear them, she couldn't take it anymore.

Marinette was too focused and tired to even notice the tears were forming in her eyes. Her tears softly trailed downwards in calm lines, the pearl shaped droplets going, one after another. They released the sorrow and grief inside her, slowly chipping away at the pain.

That night Marinette cried herself to sleep.

 _'_ _What am I going to do?'_

The thought lingered until she slept, ' _What am I going to do?'_

A screeching ring shattered her peacefulness like throwing a stone at a mirror. Her eyes darted open and she sat up quickly with shock. Looking at where the consistent ringing came from, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration in the attempt to focus on the arms of her clock.

"Eight?" She mumbled, her eyes stared to droop shut again until something clicked, "Shit!" She yelped, clumsily rolling off her bed in a rushed attempt to get dressed.

She stumbled into the classroom, and mumbled an apology to her teacher. Her eyes cast downwards whilst she made her way to her desk, dragging her body before promptly falling down onto her seat. She buried her face in her arms, groaning.

"Hey."

Marinette turned to face Alya, her curious face leaning down on her. "Oh hi."

The sides of Alya's mouth twitched, "Long night again?"

Marinette moaned, "You have no idea. I could barely sleep."

"Mari, again? You need to sleep! What do you even do?" She muttered.

"I work." What else could Marinette say? If Alya, Ladybug enthusiast, best friend, knew about Ladybug she'd be berserk.

"You and Adrien too apparently." Alya whispered, nudging her friend over to where Adrien sat in front of her.

He was resting his head on his arm with exhaustion. His hair looked messy like he'd just rolled out of bed too. His body was loose and he looked like he was barely awake.

Marinette frowned, "Why is he so tired?"

"No idea, but he looks pretty bummed out, don't you think?"

She hummed in response, her eyes never straying from the back of Adrien's head as she gazed longingly at him.

"Girl, you have got to do something about it!" Alya snapped Marinette out of her daze.

Marinettes eyes snapped away from Adrien and onto Alya. "What?"

"Yeah!" Alya exclaimed softly, "It's been what? Four years since you've met him?"

"Alya…"

"Mari, baby, honey," Alya placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's time you've done something."

"Alya…" Marinette whined, "but I don't want to…"

"Mari, I've literally been with more boys than the amount of times you've even thought about Adrien!"

Marinette frowned "It's just a small crush!" Marinette insisted, "I don't need anything from him."

"Small crush my ass." Alya replied, "I just-"

Marinette gave Alya a look, "Can I see your notes?" She sweetly asked, gracefully dodging around the subject.

"Don't think I'll forget about this." She grumbled as she sifted through paper.

"I don't doubt it." Marinette smiled as Alya gingerly handed Marinette her notes.

Adrien's eyes lazily followed Marinette as she tripped into the classroom and watched as she hastily apologized.

God, why can't his life be normal?

He thought back to last night.

If anyone had looked out their window now, all they'd see Chat Noir running on the rooftops. They wouldn't think anything of it.

But Chat Noir was running from everything that was chasing him.

And Chat Noir felt free.

Adrien welcomed the brisk air against his face, the sharp sting of cold wind bringing him back from reality. The crisp atmosphere smelt like freedom when he breathed in.

He quietly leapt onto the famous structure, and winded his way around the iron bars with his muscles straining as he held himself up.

Adrien closed his eyes as he clung onto the Eiffel tower with one arm catching his breath. He softly smiled when a gentle breeze caressed his hair. The recent events flew over his head.

Sighing, Adrien continued to climb upwards until he reached the highest platform. He jumped over the railing, the landing made a small echoing sound and it rang through Chat Noir's delicate ears sending shivers down Adrien's spine.

Adrien slowly laid on the cold metal, turning so he looked out onto Paris.

 _'_ _Home shouldn't make me feel like this.'_ His thoughts raced back to what happened before he left.

Adrien would be lying if he said that home was where his heart is. He shouldn't feel like he hoped the world would eat him up before he stepped through the front door. He shouldn't feel like he had to scurry to his room before the unwelcoming chill settled in his bones.

He liked to fantasize about how it should feel when he came home.

Safe.

Loved.

 _Happy._

His breath caught.

"You where happy with Ladybug." He whispered to himself. Adrien curled himself into a ball, pulling his knees to his chest. "Why did you have to go and ruin it?" He choked. "Why the fuck do you have to go around and ruin everything Adrien?"

His shoulders shuddered as he tried to stop himself from crying out loud. He bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere around him.

His hands crossed around his chest protectively as he turned to admire the stars above him, twinkling innocently. "Why can't-" Adrien began, "Why can't it be easy?"

His claws dug into the leather costume, almost tearing the material open, almost piercing his skin.

He didn't know why he blamed himself so badly. He wanted- no, needed Ladybug. He needed her. He didn't want their kiss to cause a rip in their relationship. He would give anything to fix what he'd done.

He didn't know what would happen next.

And shit, he was scared.

The ringing of the school bell snapped him out of his haze and he tensed up in shock.

"Adrien!" Called Nino, "Come on!"

"Coming Nino." Adrien extended his arm down to reach his bag on the ground with one hand pressed against his forehead as if to soothe down his thoughts.

"Okay so, let's go through this again." Alya instructed, "You," She pointed at Marinette's chest, "are going to walk over to Adrien, without tripping."

"Yep?" Marinette carefully focused on Alya, all traces of tiredness wiped from her face.

"You are then going to ask him." Alya paused for dramatic effect, "What's up?"

"Okay." Marinette replied, nodding enthusiastically.

Alya gave Marinette a thumbs up, "You got it?" She asked.

"Hopefully."

Alya scanned the ground floor. Their classmates were scattered everywhere in small groups with happy expressions as they talked with their friends. Marinette envied them a little.

"Right," Alya said, "I'm going to distract Nino-"

Marinette raised an eyebrow at Alya, "Distract?"

Alya cleared her throat and she said confidently, "I think Nino's cute and I am going to do something about it."

Marinette laughed, "I knew there was something in it for you."

"Oh shut up, this is mostly about you!" Alya grinned elbowing her friend, "Just talk to him. It's going to be easy!"

Marinette gaped at Alya, "Easy?" She murmured, "I wasn't able to do this when I was thirteen, how is this going to be any different?"

Alya threw her arm over Marinette's shoulder, "The difference is my dear sweet Mari, is that we are women. Strong, powerful, independent women."

"I'm not sure-"

"Honey, you really need to understand the power we hold over men." Alya smirked.

Marinette looked up at Alya, "I don't understand shit and you know that."

Alya snickered, "Sixteen, nearly seventeen, and you still don't understand shit?" Alya threw her hands up, "Unbelievable."

"Hey! I don't know what you get up to on a Friday night-"

"I understand shit on Friday nights Mari."

Marinette scrunched up her nose, "I don't need details-" Alya nudged Marinette over to the bench where Nino and Adrien sat. "I'm not ready! I'm not-" Marinette choked over her words, "H-Hey Adrien!"

Adrien and Nino looked up at Alya and her, "Hey Marinette!" Nino replied his eyes flicking quickly towards her before landing on- "Alya."

"Nino, let's talk." Alya said smoothly, ducking down to grab Nino's arm as well as pushing Marinette forward.

Marinette staggered on to the bench and sat _too close_ to Adrien. Her hand accidently grasped his in attempt to steady herself after the stumble.

She softly gasped, a light pink delicately colouring her cheeks. "Oh! S-sorry!" She mumbled quickly removing her hand from his and placing them on her lap. Her eyes darted downwards intently looking at her hands.

 _'_ _Come on! Not everything has to be complete shit'._

"I-uh, How are you?" Marinette mentally slapped herself in the face.

Adrien looked over at her in surprise, his eyebrows lifting up in disbelief. "I'm fine." He replied. He looked over to Marinette who was nervously fidgeting _,_ "What's up with you?"

Marinette stiffened, _'Oh god.'_ She screamed internally, _'Quick, be cool, be cool.'_

"I'm great." She said forcefully smiling. ' _I'm great? I'm great? Oh just kill me here and now.'_

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

Adrien itched to fix the awkward situation. He was tired of being stuck. Stuck in a place where he couldn't do anything. Frustrated he suddenly said, "You know what?"

Marinette jumped at the sudden outburst. "Uh, er, what?"

"I'm not fine." Adrien stated, "I'm the complete opposite of fine."

Marinette blinked a few times and said, "I'm not so great either. I'm really sleep deprived."

She wanted to zip her mouth close, lock it with a key and throw the key in the water. What the hell happened?

"Me too!" Adrien exclaimed, delighted that somebody can some how relate to him. He threw his hands in the air before leaning against the bench. "I can barely keep this up. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Marinette hummed uncomfortably, still startled by the fact that she could actually carry out a conversation with Adrien. "I-I don't know what I'm going to do either."

He nodded, seeming to understand how she felt. ' _He doesn't know how you feel. He doesn't know anything.'_

She scanned the crowds for signs of Alya, praying that her friend could save her. ' _I was wrong! I can't do this! Nope!'_

"Why are you so sleep deprived?" Adrien asked.

Marinette tensed up, "Just got a-uh a lot of work to do?"

"I couldn't sleep last night." Adrien said, "There so many things on my mind."

Marinette felt a wave of depression pass over her, "I couldn't sleep much last night either." She felt her eyes watering up. ' _Get a hold of yourself. Don't think about him. Not now.'_

Adrien noticed the change in tone Marinette's voice went; her voice shook softly as she spoke. He couldn't believe that Marinette, out of all the other students had trouble falling asleep. "Any idea why you couldn't fall asleep?" He softly asked, placing his hand on her shoulder supportively.

She swung her legs back and forth, "My friend and I are just going through something." She swallowed, her eyes furiously blinking away her tears.

"I couldn't sleep because I did something stupid and I'm worried that she won't like me anymore."

Marinette twitched, ' _she?'_

"I'm just so scared." He said.

Marinette felt like Adrien revealed something so personal, she shouldn't even be hearing it. She gulped, now what can she say? "I'm sure you friend is going to forgive you."

Marinette shyly glanced at Adrien. His eyebrows knitted together as he frowned lost in thought.

"I don't know about this one."

The way Adrien talked urged Marinette's arms to throw themselves around him and to tell him that it's going to be all right. Marinette opened her mouth to reassure Adrien. However, Alya and Nino thought that it would be great to show up.

"Hey guys!" Alya said whilst she walked towards the pair. She could feel the tension between Marinette and Adrien beginning to grow in the air. "Good talk?"

Startled at the sound of Alya's voice, Adrien flinched slightly before looking up. "Yeah, it was great talking to you Marinette." He said picking up his bag up from the floor of the bench. "We should do it again." Adrien smiled before walking toward Nino.

He looked too eager to talk to Adrien about what had happened with Alya. "She asked me out! Me!" Nino exclaimed excitedly. "And then we kissed! Man, it was great."

"Yeah, I wish I could've been there." Adrien laughed, before biting his lip.

Adrien listened to Nino's excited ramblings as he described how he'd felt like this since grade eleven and that it was "basically a dream come true man!" He couldn't help but to drift his thoughts back to Ladybug. ' _How is she feeling? Maybe she doesn't even care. Maybe she won't even show up anymore. Maybe, I won't see her again.'_

"Adrien? Hello?" Nino waved a hand across Adrien's face, snapping his out of his thoughts.

Adrien shook his head in attempt to get rid of his sinister thoughts. ' _Stop it.'_ He scolded himself for even imagining Ladybug leaving him. ' _She promised she wouldn't leave. Don't doubt her.'_

"Yeah yeah," Adrien replied waving his hand lazily at Nino, "I was just thinking about my next shoot with this photographer."

Nino frowned, "You really need to take a break from modeling." Nino told Adrien, "If it's stressing you out too much, you could ask for less shoots-"

"No, I can't do that." Adrien said, "My father would kill me if I did."

"He needs to get his shit together before I go over there myself and tell him exactly how I feel." Nino threatened playfully.

"You've tried before, remember?"

"That ended badly." Nino said. "I think."

"What? You don't remember?" Adrien asked. He never really talked to the Akuma victims about what happened until now.

"No not really." Nino replied, "I just have flashes of what happened… Kind of like a dream. "

"Oh" Adrien said. The duo walked out of the schools entrance just as the bell rang, signaling the end of a school day.

"I remember trying to force everyone to dance." Nino laughed bitterly, "Not one of my best moments."

"It was pretty scary seeing all the adults in the sky though." Adrien said.

Nino cocked a grin, "Yeah, that was great."

"Hey, do you ever get hurt?" Adrien was concerned that the Akuma victims would still feel the bump on their heads when he threw them to the ground, or if they could still feel the bruises where he had punched them. Even though Ladybug would wash away any damage causes, including the cuts and bruises of the people they were fighting, he wasn't sure if completely wiped away the pain too.

"Huh, I don't think so…" Nino scratched the back of his head. "it was a long time ago anyway."

"Oh thank god." Adrien sighed in relief.

"What got you so worried man?"

"I-er, is it wrong for a friend to be worried for another friend?" He hastily said, "I was scared for you!"

Nino swung an arm of Adrien's shoulder, "Dude! Sometimes you've got to loosen up a little! Make more jokes!"

Adrien turned to look over at Nino, "Make more jokes?" He asked with a twinge of humour. Ladybug kept telling him to make less jokes. How ironic.

"Girl! That looked intense!" Alya whispered as they watched Adrien and Nino walk off with each other.

Marinette took in a deep breath, "Urgh it was. I didn't know what to say! Or what to do!" She waved her arms around, anxiety creeping up at her. "God what if he thinks I'm boring?"

"Mari, didn't you hear him? He said he wanted to do this, again." Alya gave her a one armed hug once she sat down on the bench. "Do you know what this means? He likes you."

"He likes me?" Marinette couldn't believe it. In her early teenage years it would've been a dream come true to have Adrien consider her as a friend, and even more if he liked talking to her.

"You need more confidence." Alya said, "You're cute! Embrace it."

"Oh go away Alya! This is the best I can do right now."

Alya patted her on the back, "At least you didn't faint."

Marinette jokingly gasped, "I was no where near fainting!"

"You would be if you were thirteen though."

"Fine." Marinette grumpily crossed her arms over her chest. She leaned back, slumping tiredly onto the bench. "How was talking with Nino?"

"Well, I gave him a demonstration of what I learn during Friday nights."

Marinette's brain automatically landed on: "Sex?" She asked, "Ew! You- sex!"

Alya roared with laughter, her hand coming up to her chest to calm herself down. "Oh my god." She said between breaths, "Oh my god!"

Marinette felt her cheeks redden, "What the hell am I supposed to assume?" She frowned, "You-You said it so suggestively."

"Oh god, Mari-" Alya chortled, "The furthest I go with them would be like… third base!"

Marinette's eyes popped, "Third base! I asked for no details!"

"I kissed him Mari!" Alya lifted up her glasses to wipe down tears that streamed down her face. "Let's just say, he knows his way round shit." She winked.

Marinette hit her face, "No! Please stop." She groaned.

"It was pretty good." She shrugged.

Marinette looked at Alya testily through her fingers, "Was that all you did?" She said with disbelief.

Alya scoffed, "No, of course not. I asked him out."

"Oh." Marinette said, impressed. "You work fast."

"Time is money girlfriend!"

Adrien was pacing. Rapidly.

"Could you stop?" Plagg asked. "It's making my head hurt."

Adrien felt like his chest was going to burst, "What am I going to say? What am I going to do?"

Plagg rolled his eyes, "Chill out, it's no big deal!" He said, leaning back as he shoved another Camembert down his throat.

"No big deal?" Adrien stalked towards Plagg who was lazily seated on his couch. "What if she decides she doesn't want me anymore and throws me away?" Adrien said, "What if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore?"

Panic slowly boiled in Adrien's mind filling it to the brim. His chest rose and fell quicker as he started to talk faster. "What am I going to do? What am I going to do if she does do that? What the fuck am I going to do without her? What am I going to do?"

Harsh breaths huffed out of Adrien's mouth as tears welled up from his eyes. He could hear his heart rushing; his pulse was the only thing he could hear as it accelerated.

Adrien stumbled and bumped into the wall, his breath becoming irregular and he struggled to maintain a proper breathing pattern. He looked down to see his hands shake quickly, and he tried to grasp his fingers in a hopeless attempt to stop them.

 _'_ _Oh god. I'm dying.'_

His eyesight became blurred. He felt like he was trapped in a black square, darkness everywhere.

He felt like the walls were coming closer, and the space becoming smaller, slowly squeezing him.

Somewhere, sometime his ears caught an echoing voice, "Adrien? Adrien?" A wave of gratitude swept over him.

 _'_ _Does someone care?'_

His trembling hands curled into fists as he grasped onto the voice that was calling him.

The black spots teasingly danced over his eyes before he shut them tightly. He took in a shuddering breath, again and again and again.

The shaking stopped.

Adrien cautiously opened his eyes, immediately spotting his kwami who wore a concerned expression over his face.

He frowned, ' _why am I on the floor?'_

"Oh thank god you were okay." Plagg flew over to him, "For a second there, I thought you were going to faint."

He felt like he couldn't talk, and he waited for his tongue to slowly unravel as he continued to take deeper breaths.

Plagg patiently waiting beside him, offering his support quietly.

"What the fuck was that?" Adrien asked, his voice hoarse.

"Panic attack, anxiety attack, whatever you want to call it." Plagg responded, "A pretty bad one too."

Adrien moaned, he felt like complete shit. "When do I have to meet Ladybug?"

"In around ten minutes."

Adrien produced a soft whining sound, his muscles feeling worn. He wanted to stay where he was, unmoving. He was too tired to move.

But he had to.

Ladybug deserved that.

"Alright, let's go." He sighed, "Plagg, transform me."

Marinette showed up thirty minutes earlier.

She sat on a near by roof, close to where they first met. She remembered the day vividly. The first time she used her yo-yo, it had swung her over the roof and gracefully into Chat Noir's arms. Before falling down and getting tangled in the strings of her yo-yo.

She sighed and briefly closed her eyes as a brisk wind swept over her. Swallowing her rare moment of peace.

"What am I going to say?" She asked herself, "Hey Chat! Let's forget this ever happened! Let's go patrolling!"

 _'_ _Useless.'_

"That kiss was inevitable! But here's an idea! Let's forget about it!"

 _'_ _Hopeless.'_

"Chat, the ability to work as a team is more important to me than our feelings!"

 _'_ _Worthless.'_

"Hey Chat! I don't remember anything from that evening when we made out and cried together! Let's go!"

 _'_ _Helpless.'_

Marinette cried.

She couldn't say anything that wouldn't hurt both of them.

She couldn't do anything that couldn't make it worse.

She couldn't decide on anything.

 _"_ _Is this too much for you?"_ Her voice taunted, " _Poor little Marinette…_ " The voice cooed, " _What are you going to do?"_

"I DON'T KNOW!" She hissed angrily, punching a wall, "I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!" She punctuated every word with a blow to the wall, pain quickly blossoming throughout her hand.

"I don't know." Her broken voice rang through the clear sky. "I don't know." She whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette curled up into a tight ball, her shoulders shuddering as she silently cried.

What could she tell Chat? What would Chat say? Were they going to do?

These questions ran through Marinette's mind in a never-ending circle.

Her cries subsided, and she sniffled, roughly wiping her tears off her cheek. She had to be strong. She couldn't show Chat Noir that she was crying. She was Ladybug. She was unbreakable. She was strong.

' _No you're not.'_

She was going to be strong.

' _You can try to be strong.'_

She was going to be brave.

' _You're scared.'_

She was going to stand tall.

' _You can try.'_

Marinette pressed her hands against her head, as if trying to push the thoughts out of her head. Her brows furrowed and her teeth gritted. She opened her mouth in a silent scream, spewing out her anger and confusion out of herself.

' _Why, why, WHY?'_

Marinette was drowning. She stepped off the edge of the cliff, plunging in the cold, inescapable water. It penetrated her mind and body, blocking her throat and windpipe.

' _You can't save this.'_

She was blind; She couldn't see. She couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. She could only see the black abyss.

' _I can't do this anymore.'_

Marinette couldn't take the pressure of this _thing._ Staying up at night, leaving school to deal with akuma attacks in the middle of the day. Her homework piled up and up, higher and higher. She was barely holding on.

Chat.

And the only thing that held her together was Chat.

She chocked at the icy water. She was in pain. Pain cornered her. She was in pain.

Chat. Chat Noir. Chat.

She breathed.

' _You can do this.'_

' _You will get through this.'_

' _You are brave.'_

' _You are strong.'_

With each chant, the weight from her shoulders slowly lifted. She emerged from the water. She caught onto her ropes, tightly holding her so she wouldn't fall again. She saw the speck of shimmering light at the distance.

Marinette picked herself up from the ground. Her hands shakily steadied her as she slowly got up from her fetal position. She wiped her eyes with the back of her palm again.

She blew out a puff of air and raised her hand to sweep her fringe out of her eyes.

And then she waited for the unknown.

* * *

Chat Noir ran on the roofs of the homes of Paris. His claws making a clicking sound with every leap he made. He panted as he jumped from building to building in a hurry. He was late.

Adrien slowed down the second he saw Ladybug's silhouette. Curled. Shaking.

' _What?'_

He silently watched, hiding behind a nearby chimney. He watched Ladybug gulp for breaths, the water on her cheeks shined as her face hit the light. He watched Ladybug sniff as her chest rose, and fell slower, in time. He watched Ladybug wipe away her tears, fixing herself until presentable.

He watched Ladybug fall.

He watched Ladybug fall the same way he did.

A sudden pang of realization hit Adrien, that all the years that they have been partners, he never once thought that Ladybug could ever be, _weak._ Which was crazy when Adrien thought about it now because, _who wouldn't be?_

He remembered all the times he broke down when things became tough to handle.

He remembered crying for the first time after he got shouted at for staying out too long. He remembered the disappointment he received when all he yearned for was pride. He was saving the goddamn city and was never acknowledged doing it.

He remembered making up so, so, _so_ many excuses to Nino when akumas attacked during the middle of school. He remembered the stab of guilt he felt for every excuse he had to lie about.

It was difficult.

Adrien slowly emerged from the back of the chimney, quietly walking towards Ladybug's back as she faced the Eiffel tower.

"My lady." He announced his presence, watching as she jumped with surprise.

Marinette's breath caught when she heard Chat's voice behind her. "Chat." She whispered. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." He replied, lying through his teeth. _Again._

Marinette struggled to find something else to say as she slowly turned to face her partner.

"I'm sorry." Chat muttered.

"What?" Marinette was taken aback from Chat's apology.

"I'm sorry." Chat repeated, the shame was evident within his voice.

"Why are you sorry?" she gently asked, "I should be the one that's sorry."

"You didn't give me permission to kiss you Ladybug."

"Chat, I-I wanted you to kiss me." Marinette softly blushed as the truth of why she didn't stop the kiss sooner lingered in the air.

"You-You what?" Adrien gaped; _she wanted you to kiss her._

"But it was a mistake."

Adrien's happiness was punched out of him. "A mistake."

"A mistake." Ladybug's eyes gleamed regretfully in the night. "I was wrong to let it carry out."

"I kissed you." Adrien clarified. "What I did was wrong."

"I shouldn't have let it happen." Ladybug pushed. "I shouldn't have encouraged-"

"Encouraged?" He laughed, "I didn't need any encouragement. I shouldn't have kissed you."

"Chat, I wanted it." She spat it out like it was a poisonous liquid in her mouth. "I shouldn't be wanting it."

"Why would you say it like that?" Chat's voice sounded hurt, in pain. "Is this," he at the space between him and her,"that bad?"

"No!" Marinette desperately tried to climb out of the hole she dug herself in. "I-I-We can't have that."

"Why not?" Chat asked.

Marinette hesitated, _why not?_

"We can be selfish Ladybug." Chat Noir said with a sense of bitterness.

"No we can't!" Marinette's voice cracked. "We can't! What if something happens and we lose each other?"

Adrien walked towards Ladybug enveloping her into a hug. "You can't get rid of me."Adrien whispered in her ear. "Never."

"Chat, I can't afford to think like that." She rested her head on his chest, her arms curling around him. "I can't risk that."

"There is no risk my lady."

She pulled Chat closer to her, "It could mess the whole system Chat. Everything would be different."

"Change isn't a bad thing." Adrien nuzzled Ladybug's hair. "I like you more than I'm supposed to. Is that not supposed to happen?"

Marinette stiffened when she listened to Chat. "Chat."

Adrien felt his heart was being stabbed. One, two, three. He felt like someone grabbed his neck and squeezed until he couldn't breathe.

The way Ladybug said his name was so heartbroken, he knew what was coming next. Adrien clenched his jaw and closed his eyes tightly, embracing her closer as if she was a life raft.

"You're my best friend."

Adrien hissed in pain. "Yeah." He whispered so quietly he was sure Ladybug wouldn't be able to hear him.

"I don't want to lose you as a best friend Chat."

"No, I get it." He cleared his throat. "I understand."

"No you don't." Ladybug firmly said, detangling herself from his arms so she could look up into his eyes. "You're my best friend. You're too important for me to loose."

Ladybug looked up at Chat with so much sincerity that his eyes had to dart downwards. Although joy threatened to overwhelm him, despair quickly took over, washing away the happiness.

"Ladybug…"

"Chat, Promise me something." Ladybug said.

Adrien's eyes slowly travelled up to meet her hopeful blue orbs, "Yes, my lady?"

"Promise me that no matter what," Ladybug swallowed, "promise me you'll never leave me."

Adrien's mouth curved into a sad smile, "Only if you promise to never leave me."

Ladybug stifled back a sob, "I promise." Tears welled past her red and black mask as she mimicked his smile. "Do you promise?"

"Of course I promise Bugaboo."

Marinette laughed away the tension that hung in the air. She leaned in for another hug.

"Ladybug, look at me."

She looked up cautiously, and saw the bright green pupils of Chat Noir glowing softly in the night. "Don't cry over me." He said, tenderly wiping away her tears, holding her cheek carefully. Marinette leaned into his palm and looked up at him.

"I'm afraid kitty cat, you're worth crying over for." She removed his hand from her cheek kindly, "Let's go patrol."

"Whatever you say my lady." He replied.

Marinette threw her yo-yo to a nearby turret and before pulling herself back to swing herself into the air; she looked back and said, "Oh shut up Chat." And Marinette catapulted herself into the air, enjoying the sharp sting of air.

She gracefully soared into the air and a sense of freedom washed over her.

"Make me." A voice whispered from behind her.

Startled, Marinette tripped whilst landing on the turret, ignoring the gleeful laughs of her partner behind her. "You!" She pointed at him accusingly, "You-"

"Me?" Chat Noir innocently pointed to himself.

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

Marinette frustrated threw her arms in the air, "Whisper behind me when I'm in the damn sky!"

"Whisper?" Chat tapped his chin with a finger, "Now, now Ladybug, hearing voices? Are you going insane?"

"You alley cat." Marinette couldn't help but the let a smile creep up onto her face. She threw her yo-yo again. "Catch me!" She called before swinging herself into the sky once more.

Adrien watched as Ladybug swung herself away, "I will!" He shouted back, shooting himself in her direction.

 _I will._

* * *

Marinette landed on her roof and jumped through her trap door. Her transformation washed away and Tikki flew out of her earrings.

"Oh what am I going to do?" She moaned as she stumbled into her chair and buried her face in her hands.

"It went great!" Tikki cheerfully said.

"No it didn't!" Marinette curled her hands into fists. "I hurt him. Didn't you see him? He was heart broken." Marinette's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "God! Why can't I be better?"

"You did great." Tikki soothed, "You told him the truth."

"I literally told him to back off Tikki." She replied, pushing away from her desk and spinning around her room.

"That isn't going to change anything."

"Fuck yes it will." She replied angrily, "He isn't going to say those pick up lines, and he isn't going to joke that much and I've literally ruined everything."

Tikki sighed, "You haven't ruined everything." She flew into Marinette's hands and was lifted until she was face level with her.

"Oh god Tikki, but I _have_." Marinette grimanced, "I like him Tikki."

"You like him?"

"I'm not supposed to like **Chat Noir**! I'm supposed to like **Adrien**! Dear, sweet Adrien."

Tikki shrugged, "Well, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"What? No!" Marinette's eyes looked crazed, "I told him that I didn't-" She paused to take a deep breath, "I told him that I didn't and couldn't do that with him."

"Things could change." Tikki suggested.

"Things aren't supposed to change!"

"Maybe it's a phase?" Tikki said, "Maybe it's just a side effect from the kiss?"

"Maybe… hopefully." Marinette exhaled, hushing down the harsh whispers ' _liar'_ the voices said ,"I need to get to bed."

Something might have started in Marinette's heart.

Accidentally, she would always reassure herself that it was, _accidental._

But when you're fifteen and you've been partners with this snarky, mischievous cat for three years, you'd be lying if you said that you didn't once think about him in, _that way._

Sometimes you couldn't help but to notice, how damn fine he looked in his leather- "It's not leather Ladybug, it's better." as he so graciously put.

Or when, your heart just clenches when he looks at you like that, but you know he's only teasing and it's never serious. You only have time for serious anyway.

Marinette fell for Chat Noir.

Not because she had a thing for blonds. Though that might just be a small contributing factor…

She just felt to damn free around him. She could be the person she wanted to be. She could be this amazing, confident person. She was her whole true self around him. And she was happy.

But she couldn't let her feelings get in the way of how they functioned. They clicked, from day one till forever; they've always been in tune with each other. Marinette couldn't help but to think of about how ruined everything could be if they ever had a _thing._

She would often find herself daydreaming about Chat Noir and her. She would catch herself and guiltily shake it off, constantly telling herself, _no. no, you can't._

She could see arguments and words being so harshly thrown around that they would eventually avoid each other until an akuma attack. She could see them clashing against each other violently, taking hours to purify the akuma because they wouldn't work anymore.

She couldn't risk it from happening.

And she was so fucking _scared._

Scared that, ' _oh god what if-'_

They'd maybe fall in love.

And then fall out of love.

She wouldn't see him anymore. He wouldn't see her anymore.

Marinette would cry herself to sleep, each night regretting everything so much that her heart would _hurt._

Chat Noir would fall as hard as she would. And each damn night it would be re-living the same shitty nightmare and it would be merciless, because she'd deserved it.

No.

She could never do that to Chat.

It had been a year. One year.

It was a deadly secret that she'd never utter a word for anything, because she had a fucking _crush_ on Chat Noir.

She sometimes, couldn't help but to stare.

And dare she say it?

She liked him more than she'd liked Adrien.

Sure, Marinette was still completely infatuated with Adrien, but Chat was so, _so_ much more real.

He was the only real thing in all the madness she was pulled into.

Chat Noir was the only thing that kept her from loosing her mind. He kept her grounded with his jokes and terrible, terrible puns.

' _I love him.'_ Marinette realized.

' _As a friend.'_ Marinette told herself.


	4. Chapter 4

"You're fucking kidding me." She hissed, banging her fist onto her table. "It's eight o'clock. Give me a break!"

Marinette could hear screams from the outside of her window and a booming cliché villain laugh, and let me tell you, she was so, completely, done.

"Can I just-" Marinette gestured to her math's homework.

"Nope!" Tikki brightly said.

Marinette let out a groan, "I just want a couple days off. Please?" She dragged her tired body to the middle of the room, "Tikki, transform me."

She felt a comfortable breeze of warmth envelop her body as her suit appeared.

"Off to save Paris again…" She grumbled to herself as she climbed onto her roof. "It'll be fun they said!" She tossed her yo-yo to where the shouts were coming from. "Filthy liars."

She conveniently landed behind a chimney, giving her time to assess the situation. Marinette's eyebrows furrowed, she saw sparks of orange glowing in the distance. Fire? You can't be serious.

"My lady!"

Marinette swiveled round to see a very specific black cat emerge from the shadows.

"I see you've joined the party!" Chat ginned.

"No thanks." Marinette replied distastefully, urging Chat to join her behind the chimney. "I just want a day off." She whined.

"It's bad." Chat said, "Fire. I saw it on my way here."

"Did you see the akuma?" Marinette asked, turning to look past the chimney again.

"All I know is that he's got a stick that's on fire." Chat replied.

Marinette snapped her head back to look at him, "Don't-"

"I know someone, who also has, a stick that is on fire." Chat smirked, gesturing to himself.

Marinette gently shoved him, "For god's sake." She said, "Keep it at a minimum tonight." She grinned, the stress from school disappeared, happy that Chat didn't stop poking fun. Thank god.

Chat placed a hand on his chest, "Why, Ladybug! I thought you liked my jokes." He said, jokingly offended.

"Let's go." Marinette pulled on Chat's arm and they quickly but quietly stalked towards the glow.

They looked over a roof, wide eyed, Chat whispered, "Shit."

"I know." Marinette replied, "Be careful okay?" She glanced at Chat who didn't take his eyes of the fire-making akuma.

Fire was steadily growing up against buildings, scorching curtains and twirling upwards. In the middle of it all stood a tall dark figure, violently setting everything ablaze with the sweep of his stick.

He caught Ladybug's eye, "I'm always careful." He said before sliding down the roof and announcing his presence.

"Look's like somebody is on fire!" He shouted over the roaring flames.

The man holding the smooth stick sharply turned to Chat Noir pointing it threateningly at him as he jumped onto a lamppost, "Tell that to my mother!" He shouted, throwing a spurt of fire towards Chat. "She doesn't understand! It's my dream!"

"Oh god." He murmured feeling the brush of heat as he narrowly dodged the ball of fire, "It's real! It's real fire!" He shouted, hoping Ladybug could hear him.

"I am Fire Stick!" The villain introduced himself loudly, pointing his wand towards a building.

"Fire Stick?" Chat Noir asked, "Seriously? Was that the best he could come up with?"

Chat slid down the lamppost running towards the civilians who were trapped in a building. His baton extended, reaching upwards to help the people down, helping them slide down frantically. He watched as a couple of the people ran in the opposite direction in fear.

"It looks like things are getting heated!" Chat shouted at Fire Stick, "Guess why?"

The villain whipped round and set a blast of flames towards him. Chat quickly slid down his baton, avoiding the throw.

"Because I'm burning! I'm hot!" He laughed tauntingly, bounding around Fire Stick, avoiding the flaming bursts sent his way.

"That is the worst one I've heard all night!" Ladybug yelled through gritted teeth, "You could do better."

He turned to look over his shoulder and saw Ladybug warding off the fire with her yo-yo. Her back was turned and she gestured the parents and their children to run past her.

"Once I take over this city, nothing will stop me from becoming Paris' best flame thrower!" The spandex clad villain roared at Ladybug.

"You don't have to do this!" Ladybug shouted, "I'm sure your mother will understand… your dream!"

Chat could see that Ladybug's muscles were straining from spinning her yo-yo around for so long. Soot already settled onto her suit from being so close to the flames. Beads of sweat was dripping down her forehead but she looked so determined… and strong…

"Hey!" Ladybug hollered, "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help?"

She walked closer to the Fire Stick, her cheeks flushed and her bright eyes glittering with fire.

"She will never understand!" He screamed, angrily throwing more fire at nearby buildings.

The smoke was quickly building and people around them were already coughing harshly. Chat ran towards Ladybug, slowly dragging her away from the flamethrower, he took her to an alley corner to recover.

"Take a break before you faint." Chat muttered.

Ladybug coughed, her blackened hand coming up to cover her mouth. Chat rubbed her back soothingly, "Any idea where the akuma is?" He asked whilst looking over his shoulder tentatively.

Ladybug shook her head, her eyes screwed shut as she continued to cough. "We have to get those people out of there." She said between trembling breaths.

"I'll do it." Chat immediately said, "You stay here."

"No, I have to go with you." Ladybug urged, "You could get hurt."

Chat waved his hand at Ladybug dismissively, already walking away, "Don't be silly, I'm hotter than fire!"

Ladybug rolled her eyes.

Chat was busy distracting the villain whilst people ran the other way. The fire was crackling now, licking away the buildings, the smoke becoming so thick that it was hard to see the moon and the stars.

"Give me your miraculous!" The flamethrower said.

Chat scoffed, "If it hasn't worked before, it isn't going to work now!"

"I think I know where the akuma is!" Ladybug shouted on his right, "Try the stick!"

Sure enough, due to the tight spandex he wore, didn't leave much imagination or anything else that could possibly contain the akuma.

Chat immediately ran towards the flame-throwing villain with the intent of throwing a kick aimed at his stomach.

"Chat! The fire!" Ladybug screamed.

Chat twitched away as a ball of flames narrowly missed him. "Good call!" He yelled to Ladybug as he quickly ran away from Fire Stick.

"You can't beat me!" Fire Stick cried.

"You can't beat fire with fire!" Chat yelled back.

"Your arm!" Ladybug shrieked.

Chat frowned, 'My arm? What about my arm?'

"It's on fire!" She pointed.

"Shit!" He yelped, frantically patting it down, "Shit, shit shit shit."

Ladybug watched with amusement as Chat ran around large circles trying to pat down the small fire that started on his arm. At the corner of her eye, she watched as Fire Stick whipped his wand at Chat Noir whilst he was busy running and yelling towards her.

Suddenly everything was in slow motion.

As if on instinct, Marinette automatically started to sprint towards Chat and blocked him from the out coming shot. She grasped his body to hers as they tumbled onto the floor. She felt fire slowly caress her skin, seeping through her thin suit. She screamed and grabbed hold of Chat's hand, who turned his confused gaze towards her.

"No, no no." He muttered with concern, desperately trying to beat the fire out as quickly as possible.

The side of Marinette's Ladybug suit was completely burned off but luckily the fire only licked her skin but it still hurt like a bitch. She grimaced; tears of pain was leaking out from her tightly closed eyes. Marinette tightly curled her hand around Chat's bell dragging him down to her mouth.

"Use Cataclysm on the post." She managed to hiss between her teeth before being subjected into another wave of pain after she attempted to hold onto her burn. Bad idea, Bad idea!

She could feel Chat's pained gaze focused on her face and she clenched his hand tighter, "Go." She said, forcing it out between breaths.

Chat felt waves and waves of guilt crashing onto him as he dragged himself from Ladybug's form; writhing in pain from the burn. He shouted, "Cataclysm!" and dragged his claws onto the lamppost, and watched as it fell on the akumatized victim. Satisfied, he scampered back to Ladybug who was lying on the floor, watching her pained expression with frustration.

Marinette opened her eyes, gazing tiredly into the night.

"Why?" The tiredness and shame of Chat's voice made her rip her gaze from the smoke that was furling into the sky.

"What?" She croaked, "I have to get up, we have to finish." Marinette said determinedly, not waiting for Chat to reply.

He grudgingly offered his arm and pulled her up, knowing that nothing would stop her from finishing this mission. Chat supported her, throwing one of her arms around his shoulders and carefully holding her waist, avoiding the burn on the side of her rib cage.

"Lucky Charm!" Marinette threw her yo-yo into the air, praying that what ever she received would help this end quicker. She grabbed the item that came from the sky.

"A fire extinguisher?" Chat sourly said.

"Distract him." Marinette ordered, trying to overlook the tears welling up in her eyes as Chat gently removed himself from her, running towards the Fire Stick.

She watched as the Fire Stick angrily pushed the lamppost off his body, and began to aim tired blasts of fire towards Chat who would leap away and say something snarky.

Ignoring the agonizing pain on her side, she ran towards him, putting the fire extinguisher on full blast as he tried to block her with a wall of flames. She fell on her thigh, skidding across the concrete. She bit the inside of her cheek as the burn emitted out another slap of pain. Marinette slid between the legs of Fire Stick, her arm reaching up to snag the stick from him.

Marinette quickly stood up, snapping the cane with her knee. She released the purple akuma, letting it drift before purifying it.

Adrien watched Ladybug quickly purify it, "Bye bye little butterfly." Her eyes tiredly followed the white buttlerfly as it flew away. "Miraculous ladybug!" She yelled as she threw her lucky charm in the air, watching as the magic swept over Paris, mending the damaged buildings and stray fires.

Adrien watched as Ladybug tiredly stumbled towards him, he lifted up his fist as they always did at the end of the missions.

"Good job." She said, forcing a smile onto her face, before grimacing at the pain when her fist touched his.

Adrien's ring beeped. "Promise me you'll meet up with me in two hours."

Ladybug winced, "It's nearly ten Chat."

He grabbed her shoulders. "Promise me." He said.

"Alright!" She said, "Now go before your transformation wears off."

His ring beeped once again, "You'll be okay going back home?"

"Oh my god, just go." Ladybug gestured, "I'll be fine."

Adrien gave Ladybug another doubting gaze before prancing away.

"Oh no! Did I do that?" The tall gentleman quickly ran towards Ladybug.

"It's fine!" She replied, giving him a smile, "Are you okay?"

The akumatized victim nodded, her earrings emitted a ringing beep. "Guess I have to go! Bye!"

Marinette dropped her positive attitude, wincing with each step she took. Thankfully the akuma attack didn't attract many reporters or fans, and her earrings rung with the same beep as Chat Noirs. Groaning, she slowly limped to a dark alleyway, leaning against the wall as Tikki flew out.

At least things with Chat Noir weren't awkward. She didn't know what she'd do if there would be tension every time they met. Marinette was thankful that they both unconsciously agreed to pretend like nothing had happened.

"Marinette!" Tikki immediately said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Tikki." She tensed as the new fabic settled over her skin, "Just did something stupid."

"You and Chat Noir have to be more careful! With Hawkmoths akuma's becoming more and more dangerous, we can't risk something like this! It could've been worse!" Tikki rambled.

"I know, I know. But I had to! You know I did." Marinette protested.

"I'm really worried about you two." Tikki sighed, "Come on, let's get back home before we have to meet up with Chat Noir again."

* * *

Marinette waiting on their usual meeting point, a rooftop close to where they first met, carefully built away from the public eye.

Her Ladybug suit repaired itself when she put it back on, but her burn still throbbed underneath. She didn't dare touch it.

"My lady."

Marinette turned towards the sound of Chat Noir's voice and noticed what he was carrying, "Are those bandages?" She asked, "And… is that aloe vera?"

Chat's mouth was tugged to a frown, "Yes." He replied, "Now show me the burn."

"Chat, this isn't necessary."

Chat's ears visibly flattened, "What wasn't necessary was you throwing yourself in the line of fire!"

"You would've done the same for me!"

Chat's mouth opened but she stopped him bringing her hand up, "No! You can't be the only one who can take punches and falls! I care about you too!"

His eyes narrowed, "Fine! Take a punch for me Ladybug! But don't get yourself fucking burnt."

"I couldn't just stand and do nothing!" She spat, "You would've done the same for me and you know it!"

"My suit is thicker than yours Ladybug!"

"What difference does it make? Can't you just say thank you?" Marinette turned to walk away.

Chat reached to grab her arm, pulling her back, "I don't want to see you hurt." He said in a small voice.

Marinette's eyes softened and she pivoted her body back towards him, "I know. But it's our job to help Paris and we're going to get hurt no matter what."

"If I had just paid more attention-"

"No, this akuma was extremely dangerous and one of us would've gotten hurt anyway."

"I'm supposed to protect you!" He croaked, "And now you're burned "

Something inside Marinette cracked. She didn't ever realize that Chat Noir would care so damn much about her. "We're partners Chat. I look after you and you look after me." She placed a hand on his shoulder, "We protect each other."

Chat smiled forlornly, "Right."

"Now, are you going to help me with the burn or not?" Marinette asked bursting the tension.

"Yes!" Chat snapped back to his usual self, "Sit on the ledge." He directed.

Marinette slowly settled onto the ledge, "I've cleaned the burn." She said, "Wait, are you going to rip the suit open?"

"Mhm." Chat hummed, sitting behind her, cutting her suit open carefully with his claws. "Hope it's no problem for your kwami." He said, "And your suit repairs itself so, eh."

Chat hungrily stared at the exposed flesh of his lady. It would have been a prettier sight if it weren't for the burning red strip across her side.

"It doesn't hurt that much you know." She whispered craning her head back, watching Chat closely.

"Right…" His eyes scanned her burn.

"Okay fine, it hurt a lot but it isn't that bad." Marinette paused, "And besides, you know that the burn doesn't really affect my citizen form."

"I pictured a lot worse." Chat said, unscrewing the tub of aloe vera. He brought his arm around her, "And of course I know, but I can't have an injured Ladybug running around, can I?" he curled it around her stomach, bringing her closer to his chest.

Marinette gulped, leaning back into Chat's chest, Chat Noir's going to rub aloe vera on me. Oh god, kill me now.

"Okay, I'm just going to-"

She hissed when she felt the cool sensation spread, numbing the sting. She tipped her head back onto his chest and moaned, "God that feels so good."

Chat watched her with guarded eyes, gently dabbing her burn lightly. Marinette remained oblivious with the fact that the hand on her waist tightened. Marinette's hand suddenly jumped to grip Chat's wrist when she yelped. He quickly withdrew his hand, "What?"

"Your claws grazed the- uh…"

Marinette hadn't realized the closeness between her and Chat Noir's face until she looked up. She looked up into Chat's emerald eyes drowning in their depths, bewitching her.

"Ladybug?"

Marinette jumped, removing her gaze from his eyes, but dragged them back up, unable to stop herself. "Grazed the burn." She breathed.

He nodded, his eyes dilating, "Sorry." He said in a hushed voice.

They stared at each other, frozen. "Bandages!" Marinette said in a shrilled voice, "Bandages!"

Chat averted his gaze, his jaw clenching, "Right."

Marinette was dying. Not literally, metaphorically. She wished the ground could swallow her up. 'Smooth Marinette. Real smooth.'

She awkwardly lifted her arms allowing Chat to gently place a large bandage onto her.

Adrien's hands shook as he stuck the bandage onto Ladybug. His head was basically leaning onto her shoulder, looking downwards as he carefully smoothed the bandage over her. Control yourself. He scolded.

His head came back up to look at Ladybug, 'TOO CLOSE.' His mind screamed. Their noses were teasingly brushing each other, his breath caught, "I'm done." He whispered.

"You did great." Marinette replied faintly, her eyes flicking to Chat Noir's lips.

"I know."

They leant in agonizingly slowly, both of them desperately yearning for the unforgotten desire. Marinette's eyes lazily slid closed, her head twisting higher in attempt to meet Chat Noir's lips quicker.

She didn't know what she was doing, and she was so close she could feel Chat's warm, shallow breaths on her face.

A car alarm blared, causing the pair to dart away from each other. Chat fell backwards.

Marinette felt blood rush up to her cheeks when what she almost did hit her. In the face. Hard.

"I-" Marinette started, "I-I'm going to go home. I've got a lot of work to do… math homework… you know, school." She quickly rattled, "And it's late, so, it's like what? One?" She forcefully laughed, "That's late! I've got to sleep, home…" She walked to the other side of the roof, avoiding eye contact with Chat Noir at all costs. "Good morning! Night! Have a good night!" She crazily laughed a good bye before swinging away.

Adrien lay dazed on the floor, "Oh my god." He muttered, "Did that just happen?" His voice was loud and echoing in the silent night.

He got up, brushing himself off as he walked leaning on ledge watching Ladybug's hurried attempt to get away from him in the distance.

"God, what the fuck am I going to do."


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette fell face first onto her bed. "Oh god Tikki…" She groaned, "This cannot be happening."

"Everything will work out eventually." Tikki soothed Marinette.

"We nearly kissed." Marinette's voice was muffled due to her stuffing her face into the pillow. "I said that I couldn't do it. What the fuck was I thinking."

Tikki giggled, "Why don't you just give him a chance?" She flew onto Marinette's back.

"I can't!" she said, "I told him I wouldn't!"

"Are you saying that because you're scared?"

Marinette hesitated, "Yes." She said in a small voice. "Also because what I saw was true!" Marinette defended, "Everything could go wrong! The system…"

"I'm sure that if you both care enough about Paris, you'll be able to build up your relationship again if anything went wrong."

"I love Paris!" Marinette said, "And I care for Chat." Marinette carefully picked her words, "And I'm terrified."

"Oh Marinette…" Tikki hugged Marinette's arm.

"I don't want to be selfish." She murmured, "I can't be selfish. The fate of Paris rests on us defending them." Marinette screamed into her pillow with frustration, "Fuck. Me."

Marinette was incredibly proud of her hidden crush for Chat Noir. She was also aware that it was terrible of even having another crush because she felt like she was cheating on Adrien.

Marinette clung onto Adrien's sweet personality, which was so undeniably different from Chat Noir's. She'd convince herself that Chat's flirtatious remarks were getting to her, and that her feelings were just some kind of effect from her exposure from Chat.

Whilst she grew up, even though she knew that the only way Adrien had ever seen her as was as a friend, she desperately held onto fantasies she'd create in her head in attempt to convince herself that Adrien was still the person she fell 'in love' with when she was thirteen. But shit, she was sixteen now.

Marinette would brush off Chat Noir's compliments, his reckless attempts to 'be the gentleman' and take the hit for her. She'd discard every possible idea she'd have of Chat. believing that he was 'one of those boys', the type of guy who would hit on a girl and then bring her to bed. But she knew it was so _wrong._

Chat was brave, courageous, kind, and caring.

She had promised herself, right at the beginning, that she'd never get together with Chat Noir. She'd laugh when Alya suggested that Ladybug and Chat Noir had hidden their 'secret romantic feelings'. She was so sure that she wouldn't let it happen that she'd proposed a damn bet with Alya. Fifteen euros!

And then everything she had built up against Chat had crumbled down. Once their kiss had started, she knew from the beginning that she was completely, and utterly, dead.

"Plagg!" Glee rang through the air as Adrien punched the air. "We had a moment!"

"Yeah." Plagg replied with boredom dripping through his voice. "Well done."

"Don't try to suck the joy out of me Plagg."

Adrien had to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming.

 _'_ _I wasn't dreaming. It's real.'_

He was flabbergasted, "You. Made Ladybug nervous." He muttered, "Ladybug never gets nervous. But you did it."

"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity you know." Plagg casually said.

"Oh my god!" Adrien cried, hands clamping over his mouth; realization quickly leaking into Adrien's mind, "I almost kissed Ladybug! I almost kissed Ladybug!"

"And she almost kissed you."

Adrien felt like he was on cloud nine, his veins were coursing with happiness, and it rushed through him, filling him to the brim. "She almost kissed me." He whispered, "Oh my god, Plagg! She almost kissed me!"

' _What a nerd.'_ Plagg thought, "Yes." He drawled, "It's not like you to be so happy."

"Ladybug makes me happy Plagg." Adrien stated, twirling to fall onto his bed with content. "Ladybug."

Maybe he'd finally have a chance with Ladybug. He didn't know or care how things would work, but maybe he'd have a chance. And just the thought of the possibility of _dating_ Ladybug made Adrien glow.

"You do realize that Ladybug might not want a relationship."

Adrien couldn't breathe.

"But perhaps she would be willing to try." Plagg finished.

"You're full of shit Plagg." He said with a slight tremor in his voice.

"Thanks."

Adrien walked into the classroom, his arm immediately came up to wave at Nino.

"What's up?" Adrien greeted, sliding into his chair.

"Awesome. Amazing." Nino sighed, "The date with Alya was yesterday, and it, was, sweet!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Nice!" Adrien said, raising his hand for a high-five.

"Yeah, a lot of making out." Nino winked as they high fived.

"Wow, you both move fast." Adrien said, "I'm assuming you had a good time?"

"Fuck yes I had a good time." Nino replied, "So what's with you?"

"Nothing much." Adrien said, his mind automatically thought back to last night.

"Don't play with my bro, I know you too well."

Adrien awkwardly laughed, "I'm fine!" He said.

"Dude, I'm worried about you, you've been really down for the past week." Nino said.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, "I've got, erm, girl problems."

"Girl problems?" Nino asked, "What? Are you on your period?"

Adrien's mouth twitched to a smile and he elbowed Nino, "You know what I mean."

"I do, I'm sorry Bro, couldn't resist." Nino chuckled, "So you've got problems with a girl?"

"Yeah…" Adrien trailed. He didn't want to give away too much information.

"She doesn't like you back." Nino stated. "I personally don't know why." He continued, "I would totally bang you."

Adrien laughed, "Don't tell Alya that."

"Alya is enough for me." Nino said. "Tell me about this girl."

Adrien sighed, "She's amazing, and I've known her for a while, and things are happening but she says that she doesn't want to ruin our friendship."

"Ah, the classic friendzone." Nino patted Adrien on the back, "If anyone can get out of that hell hole, it would be you."

Adrien grumbled, "Women are so confusing."

He felt Nino perk up next to him, "Alya's here." Nino whispered as he frantically hit Adrien on the arm.

Adrien glanced up and watched as Alya and Marinette walked into the classroom, taking their seats. "Just be cool." Adrien told Nino.

"Right, yeah, be cool." Nino rolled his shoulders, "It's alright, I'm cool. I'm cool."

They could hear as Alya and Marinette took their seats, talking in hushed voices.

"When do you think I should turn round?" Nino murmured, his leg bouncing with anticipation.

"Not now. Be cool." Adrien said.

"I've got to, I can't help myself."

Nino turned quickly turned around and swung his arm casually over his seat. Adrien groaned as he smacked himself in the face. It would have been more casual if Nino hadn't spoken so quickly.

"What's up Alya?"

"I've been fantastic." Alya replied. She looked delighted to get that type of reaction out of Nino.

Adrien glanced over to Marinette. Her hands were over her mouth, attempting to stop the giggles from erupting from her mouth.

Nino gulped, "That's great! Adrien, how are you?"

Adrien shot Nino a look, ' _Seriously man?'_

"I'm doing great." He said.

 _"_ How was your weekend Nino?" Alya winked.

"It was great!" Nino said hurriedly, "I had a great time with you."

A squeak of laughter came from Marinette. Adrien looked from Marinette to Alya, realization flooded his face. Adrien grinned, "Hey, so you never finished talking about how it went." He said, joining in.

"What went?" Nino said, his eyes were focused on Alya who was busy staring quite intently at him.

"Your date Nino." Adrien patiently. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Nino visibly gulping, a light pink colouring his cheeks; Alya waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Marinette had succumbed in another fit of giggles, her eyes watering as she tried to contain her laughter. She watched as her best friend successfully made Nino's jaw drop to the floor as Alya suggestively leaned over her table, cleavage out, to whisper into his ear.

She definitely didn't want to know what Alya was whispering about.

They walked out of school as another week flew by quickly.

Marinette had forgotten about what had happened on the rooftop after the next couple days, and the only reminder of that night was the burn on her side that was healing rapidly.

She had stuck to a strict routine, making sure that she'd keep her mind of Chat Noir. She didn't want to tunnel back into a state of worry.

"Are you guys free Saturday?" Alya asked already excited that the weekend was drawing near.

"I'm always free for you." Nino smiled, his arm coming around to rest on Alya's curvy waist.

The two pairs had seemed to join together, the unity of Alya and Nino had made their two friends and them become a group.

"Babe…" Alya looked at Nino adoringly, "Usually I don't like romantic shit but you're so cute."

Adrien took his phone out of his pocket, flicking through his calendar, "Nope, I've got nothing."

The prospect of hanging out with Adrien made Marinette's blood rush, "I-I don't think I've got, uh, plans." Marinette said, Alya grinned at Marinette with understanding.

"Great!" Alya said delightfully, "Do you guys want to go to the movies?"

"Sure." Adrien chirped, "Text me the details, I've got to go!" He raised his hand as a goodbye, running to his car quickly.

The trio watched as the sleek black car quickly drove away, taking Adrien with them.

"Well, that's my cue." Nino said, kissing Alya on the cheek, "Bye guys!" He yelled, rushing towards the group of students that watched as the school bus parked alongside the pavement.

"He's cute." Alya sighed watching her new beau actively talk to their classmates.

Marinette grabbed hold of Alya's arm. She had been freaking out once Adrien had confirmed that his actual body would be hanging out with her, outside of school.

"Oh my god." Marinette silently screamed. "I'm going to the movies with Adrien Agreste!"

"Yeah you are!" Alya cheered.

"I'm going to the movies! With Adrien Agreste!"

Alya beamed as she watched her friend jump excitedly in the air, whooping. "Don't you think you're going to get ready by yourself though." Alya said.

"You're the greatest friend I could have ever wished for." Marinette said with a smile still plastered on her face.

"I know."

Marinette anxiously paced her room. She had patrol with Chat Noir in less than an hour and she didn't know what to do.

 _'_ _You like him!'_ Her mind screamed, furious that she wasn't co-operating.

 _'_ _No you don't!'_

She didn't know what she'd say. She didn't know what she'd do. She numbingly sat down onto her chair.

Marinette thought back to the event, and winced as she remembered her departure, stammering, blushing…

' _You only did that to Adrien…'_

She let out a groan of frustration, banging her head on the table. She looked at her desktop background, a collage of Adrien she had made when she was thirteen.

"Why can't anything be easy?" She moaned her hand coming up to poke one of the Adriens on her computer.

Marinette pondered wildly as her thoughts travelled down the very dangerous road of "What if we did have something going on?"

She imagined sneaking off late at night, meeting up with Chat Noir and he would lean over and kiss her, and kiss her. She imagined climbing up the Eiffel Tower late at night and she'd push him against a pillar and take his lips into hers. She imagined Chat purring, whispering sinful things into her ear as he'd teasingly trail a clawed finger down her stomach and-

Marinette pushed herself from her desk frantically, "No, no, no…" She cried, getting up again and returned into the routine of walking back and forth. "Bad thoughts Marinette. Very. Bad. Thoughts."

Tikki flew into Marinette's room with icing splattered around her cheeks. She watched as Marinette kept pacing, muttering, fidgeting anxiously. "Marinette, I'm sure everything will go okay." She said, understanding the situation she was in.

"It's going to be so awkward! It's hardly ever awkward."

"Well, I think it's good to experience some kind of awkwardness." Tikki said.

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "How is it ever good to be placed in an awkward position?"

Tikki fluttered to Marinette hugging her cheek, "I know things seem bad with Chat, but it'll be okay."

"Yeah, well, better get this over with." Marinette sighed, flicking a strand of hair out of her eye. "Take me to hell Tikki, transform me!"

Ladybug soared into the night, swinging to and fro from building to building. As she swung closer to their meeting point, she could see Chat Noir's sly eyes gleaming from the shadows.

He leaned against the chimney and hungrily watched as Ladybug gracefully landed on the building. Her eyes darted downwards nervously, her arms coming up to cradle her chest.

"My lady." Adrien drawled. He didn't forget the last time they met, and he definitely wasn't going to pretend that it didn't happen.

"Patrol then?" She quietly asked, her foot traced the roof floor. ' _What are you doing?!'_ Her mind screamed, ' _You're Ladybug! Act like it for fucks sake.'_

She breathed, and bravely looked up at Chat Noir who watched her closely with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Of course my lady." Adrien said, "Unless you want to do something else before?" He purred, his eyes darting down from Ladybug's eyes to her pink lips.

"Patrol then?" Ladybug asked in a tone higher than her normal voice.

Adrien walked out of the darkness and stopped when he reached Ladybug. "Ladies first?" He asked, bowing down. He teasingly looked up from his position and watched as Ladybug visibly gathered herself together before soaring through the night.

He grinned, if he had a tiny, small, minuscule chance with Ladybug, he was going to fight for it. He pounced, onto the next roof, to the next quickly meeting up with Ladybug who jumped onto a shed roof and cleanly sliding down it before setting off again.

Adrien quickened the pace, overtaking Ladybug as he took a large leap, stretching his body out before rolling onto the ground.

Marinette couldn't help but to glance at Chat Noir every couple seconds. Honestly, it wasn't the first time she'd let Chat in front of her so she could admire… _everything._ And by everything she meant that ass because wearing a skin-tight uniform really doesn't hide much.

' _God, just stop. Stop.'_ She told herself, ' _Don't you dare look up… don't you DARE.'_ She kept her eyes firmly forward, ' _Don't! Oh god here we go again.'_ She cursed herself as her eyes darted left to sneak a quick glance at Chat Noir. She couldn't help but to admire his beautiful jawline and amazing cheekbones. She tore her gaze unwillingly, her eyes widening as she hastily swerved to avoid a chimney.

"Distracted, my lady?" Chat teased.

Marinette hid a blush, thankful for the dark sky, "No." She said stiffly, taking large strides so she came before Chat.

Adrien grinned at Ladybug's reaction. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ladybug furiously glaring forward. He grinned even wider when they passed a streetlight; the glow of her reddening cheeks bringing him satisfaction.

Marinette angrily scolded herself as the embarrassment of getting caught staring at Chat Noir no less, had sunk in.

The duo leaped past hundreds of buildings as they circled around Paris. They stopped twice to stop burglaries and attempted rape. Chat Noir pushed off the burly man off an intoxicated, petite woman and dragged him towards the closest police whilst Ladybug quickly called a cab for the lady. She helped other people get into cabs, gently reminding them, "Get home safely." and "Hey! Don't drive!"

When Chat Noir arrived back to at scene, they began to run across Paris again.

Sweat stuck Marinette's hair to her forehead as she jumped across yet another wall, panting heavily. Chat Noir huffed as they leaped onto another roof.

Chat Noir's leather suit gleamed in the night, and Marinette couldn't help but to stare at Chat's gorgeous tanned muscles as they flexed with every step they took. She gawked as Chat cartwheeled over a row of short chimneys, his arm muscles looked like they were staining against his suit. ' _Was that really necessary?'_ Marinette thought, her jaw unintentionally dropping.

They jumped across another roof and if Marinette hadn't been so busy **staring** at Chat Noir's fantastic legs she wouldn't have stumbled. And who could blame her? The boy had fantastic thighs.

Adrien frowned as Ladybug staggered, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, "Wait." He insisted, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Ladybug croaked, her eyes firmly fixed onto his shoulder.

"You're not." Adrien said, gently clasping his hand around her elbow, guiding her towards a wall she could lean on. "Is it your burn?" He asked, "Has it finished healing yet?"

"Wha- oh yes, my burn." Ladybug stuttered, "No it's still kind of red."

"We could take a break." He suggested, they _had_ been running around for nearly two hours, as it was a Friday night.

"No! I'm fine!" Ladybug said, "as long as I stop fucking staring." She muttered quietly.

It was this type of situation Adrien wanted to thank being Chat Noir. His heightened hearing clearly caught Ladybug's quiet remark.

"Staring at what?" Adrien purred, taking a couple steps closer to Ladybug watching as she realized she was backed up against the wall.

"I was staring at nothing." Ladybug hastily said.

Adrien leaning over Ladybug, his tall frame trapping her as his hands came up to rest beside her head. "Are you sure about that?" Adrien hid a shiver as he watched Ladybug chewing her lip before releasing it.

"No." Marinette felt like kicking herself. ' _You've faced millions of Akumas and you can't even talk properly to boys?"_

"No?" Chat Noir breathed, his hand coming over to her face, sweeping her fringe out of her eye. Marinette cowered nervously. Her eyes bravely came up to meet his, before she was captured, enchanted under his gaze. "Are you sure?" Chat asked, bringing his body closer to Ladybug's. Adrien came close enough to count the freckles scattered across Ladybug's cheeks.

His finger softly drew around the freckles, connecting them together. Adrien didn't miss the gulp that Ladybug took as he teased her cheek with his claw. Adrien looked into Ladybug's eyes lustfully, noticing the dilation of her pupil.

"You weren't staring at me?" Adrien whispered, leaning closer into Ladybug

"Maybe."

"Well, maybe is good enough for me." He muttered into her ear, before brushing his mouth against her jaw, and then her cheek, lightly making his way to her lips.

Marinette melted against Chat's touch, her eyes fluttering close as his hand came up to cup her cheek. His thumb rubbed the bottom of her lip and he placed a feather light kiss at the corner of her mouth. Marinette sighed, waiting for Chat to bring it further. ' _Kiss me!'_

She frowned when he removed his hand from her cheek, Marinette opened one eye and saw the gleeful face of Chat Noir.

"Well it's getting late." Chat said, as if nothing had happened between them. "I must be going."

He gave Marinette a seductive smile with hooded eyes, as if promising that there will be more coming. "Good night, my lady."

And then he turned jumping down from the roof and disappearing into the night.

She was left feeling confused, her mind still buzzed, unable to think properly. Marinette brought her hand to touch her lips.

"What?"


End file.
